


Ghost

by TheOriginalCowboyCat



Series: Destiny Shorts [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Deep Stone Crypt, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27998598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalCowboyCat/pseuds/TheOriginalCowboyCat
Summary: The figure as it turned out, was an Exo, sterling white with orange markings covering half of its face. It yelled back in surprise upon seeing them and tried to scramble away from the gun, “Don’t shoot!” it yelped in a strangely familiar voice, “It’s me! It’s me, Guardian! Don’t shoot!”.The Guardian blinked, aim faltering slightly.“Please… just put the gun down. It’s okay, you’re safe here, I promise,” it pleaded.They didn’t move, too bewildered and confused to do much else but stare back into its bright blue eyes, but after a moment, they obeyed.
Series: Destiny Shorts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050665
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	Ghost

When the Guardian opened their eyes, they found themselves sprawled out on the ground, surrounded by the unnervingly clean white walls that encased the BrayTech facilities. Their mind foggy and muscles slightly numb as their senses slowly filtered back to them but they made no effort to move just yet, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. This wasn’t entirely concerning, or even an uncommon occurrence, being brought back from the dead had its side effects after all, but the odd thing was… they couldn’t remember what had killed them in the first place.

Slowly they sat up, spotty vision becoming clearer as they took in their surroundings. There was the usual array of machinery, some of which were sparking and smoking with wires and such sticking out of various places… likely from being shot at and damaged if there’d been a scuffle. But… there were no signs of a fight, no bodies of enemies like the Vex or Eliksni that could usually be found roaming Europa, or even a single bullet hole or casing.

So, what in the Traveler’s name could have killed them? They couldn’t have just spontaneously died… right?

“Ghost?” they said groggily, rubbing the side of their head, “… What happened this time?”.

There was no answer, room remaining eerily silent and still. There was no friendly voice welcoming them back while explaining the situation, no comforting blue light watching over them with care and concern as they were being healed… and worst of all, the soft whirring and clicking of Ghost’s shell were nowhere to be heard.

“Ghost?” the Guardian repeated, slightly more alarmed, “Where are you?”.

Still… nothing.

A flash of panic tore through their chest as they scrambled to their feet, looking around wildly for their companion. The last time they woke up with Ghost gone was… the Guardian shook their head. No, now was not the time to think about the past… especially not how traumatic it had been to wake up and find their Light gone, with Ghost looking like he was going to fall out of the air dead at any given moment.

Once on their feet, the Guardian took a single step forward, only to jump back when their foot collided with something left discarded on the floor, the object scraping and skittering across the floor. An intense feeling of dread washed over them as they looked down, their heart and stomach-dropping heavily as they realized what the object was. It was small and sterling white, the only color on it being the small orange bits at the ends of its fins… a Ghost shell.

 _Ghost’s_ Ghost shell.

Their breath caught in their throat, eyes widening in mounting horror as they slowly and hesitantly bent down to investigate. “G- Ghost?” the Guardian wheezed, slipping off their helmet before prodding the seemingly lifeless shell with a trembling finger. The shell made no movement, or showed any sign of acknowledgment, even as they gently scooped it up and cradled it in their hands, “Little Light?”.

 _This isn’t happening, this can’t be happening._ First, it was Sundance, then it was Sagira, and now... They prayed to the Traveler that he was just knocked out, or even playing a horrible, uncharacteristic prank but… a pained whimper escaped their throat as they saw that his eye had gone dark, the Light that had once flowed within him was no more.

Their closest, most treasured companion was gone…

“No…,” the Guardian whimpered again, biting back the tears that stung their eyes, “Please… please no,”. Despite having no recollection of the events that transpired before they awoke, the Guardian couldn’t help but feel responsible, unable to fight the intense wave of guilt that flooded their chest. They choked out a small sob as they continued to cradle the empty Ghost shell, clutching it to their chest.

They were supposed to protect each other, they were supposed to stay together until the very end, how could they have let this happen, how-

The Guardian paused and immediately drew their weapon, a sudden, loud crash of metal clanging against metal breaking them away from their thoughts. They rose to their feet once more and looked around for any sort of movement, keeping Ghost’s shell gripped tightly in their free hand. The area was still vacant of any life, the only things sharing the space were still running machines and the long-dead corpses of Exos that seemed to litter the entire planet.

Quiet as they could, the Guardian took a few cautious steps forward, moving closer to the source of the noise. Whatever it was, it was clearly trying to hide from them behind what appeared to be some sort of exam table, various parts left strewn about on top and around it. Hanging wires above the little station were spasming angrily with live electricity, bright flashing red lights on one of the machine’s displays illuminating the small area.

It was just bright enough that the shadow of a small figure could be seen on the wall behind it.

The Guardian ducked down and immediately lowered into a defensive stance, gun loaded and jaw ridged. Was this the thing that killed their Ghost? Was it waiting… biding its time and waiting for the perfect moment to strike now that they were vulnerable? Or was it hiding like a coward after what it’d done?

It didn’t matter now, whatever was trying to hide- was going to meet its end soon. They safely tucked Ghost’s empty shell into the crevasse between their armor and grip the small gun tighter until their aim steadied and hands stopped shaking. They closed their eyes for a moment and took an uneven breath before rushing in, crying out in anger as they rounded the corner and pointed the barrel right at the unknown figure, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

The figure as it turned out, was an Exo, sterling white with orange markings covering half of its face. It yelled back in surprise upon seeing them and tried to scramble away from the gun, “Don’t shoot!” it yelped in a strangely familiar voice, “It’s me! It’s me, Guardian! Don’t shoot, me!”.

The Guardian blinked, aim faltering slightly.

“Please… just put the gun down. It’s okay, you’re safe here, I promise,” it pleaded.

They didn’t move, too bewildered and confused to do much else but stare back into its bright blue eyes, but after a moment, they obeyed.

The Exo sighed a breath of relief when they finally lowered the gun. “Thank goodness you’re alright,” It… no, _he_ said, “This is the last time I’m letting you mess around with technology we don’t know about, just look at me…”.

The Guardian holstered their weapon, bending down to meet the Exo at eye level. “Who… are you?” they asked, wondering if he’d somehow mistaken them for someone else, “How did you get down here?”.

Now it was the Exo’s turn to look confused. “I came down here with you…?” he said, head cocked to the side, “We came down here to explore together… remember?”.

They blinked again and rubbed their head… maybe they’d forgotten more than they’d originally thought, maybe this was what happened when Guardians lost their Light for good.

 _Was this what Osiris and Cayde felt?_ The Guardian thought dismally.

“I’ve never seen an Exo like you before,” they admitted, “And I came down here alone. Well, it was just me and my…” the Guardian shut their eyes again, a pained expression washing over their face as they absently reached into their armor and pulled out the empty shell, “My Ghost…but he-”.

“Thank the Traveler, you found my shell!” the Exo exclaimed, cutting them off upon see the sterling white shell, “I was afraid it got destroyed in the explosion! I was always quite fond of this particular model”.

The Guardian pulled the shell back defensively when the Exo reached for it, “Wait… explosion? What explosion? What are you even talking about? And why do you think this is your shell? You’re an Exo, Exo’s don’t have shells!”.

They didn’t mean to snap at the Exo, seeing as he recoiled slightly at the sound of them raising their voice, but… they couldn’t help it, a swarm of mixed emotions raged through their head.

“Sorry,” they muttered sheepishly, voice trembling slightly, “…sorry,”.

The Exo remained silent for a moment before continuing. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Guardian. It _is_ my shell,” he insisted softly, “You really don’t remember what we were trying to do? Why I’m like this?”.

“No!” the Guardian exclaimed again, tears threatening their eyes again, “I have no idea who you are! I woke up alone to find my Ghost dead, I have no idea of what happened before that, and-”.

“Dead? I’m not dead… I’m sitting right in front of you,”.

The Guardian blinked, the Exo’s words catching them off guard, “…What?”.

“We were doing a bit of an… ‘ _not entirely Vanguard sanctioned’_ scouting mission to help Ana look for a machine that could help her put Rasputin into a frame. We found it, of course,” he explained, pausing to gesture to the table and machinery that surrounded them, “But we weren’t exactly sure how it worked… so we did some poking around, found a blank Exo frame, pressed a couple of buttons and…”.

He mimicked a small exploding sound, using his hands for emphasis.

“I woke up like this…”.

The Guardian simply stared at him, eyes wide in utter disbelief. It wasn’t possible… it _shouldn’t_ be possible, they knew very well that Clovis Bray was a mad man, but this…? They looked down at the empty, undamaged Ghost shell still clutched in their hand, back to the Exo who donned the same exact color scheme and then to the group of machines, one of which had a flashing display that read: _Transfer Complete_.

They let out a ragged breath and met eyes with the Exo again, “…Ghost?”.

He perked up, almost smiling. “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he teased gently, “I’m with you till the end, remember?”.

The Guardian let out a shaky laugh, and then another, and another, until their breathy chuckles devolved into small sobs, and they couldn’t stop the flow of tears that spilled from their eyes. He was alive, their little Ghost, the one constant in their life that had been at their side since the very beginning. “I thought…” they choked out, between hiccups and sobs, “I thought you were… I thought I’d lost you,”.

“…Guardian,” Ghost said, clearly not knowing how to respond to seeing his Guardian in such a state. Until a few minutes ago, when he’d still just been a small Ghost floating at their side; he would have simply nestled himself into their cloak, pressing his shell against their cheek in an attempt to comfort them.

But now…

As the Guardian wept, head hung low and vision blurred with tears, they couldn’t help but stiffen slightly when they suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap gently around their shoulders, drawing them in close until their forehead rested against his chest. No matter how hard they tried, not once in their six years of being reborn as a Guardian, could they remember the last time they’d received a hug…

It was the first they’ve had in a long… _long_ time.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Ghost whispered, “I’m glad I’m finally able to,”.

That seemed to put them over the edge, and the Guardian cried a little harder as Ghost held them a little tighter. It was an odd feeling, being held by the one you were so used to holding, but a comforting one nonetheless, especially given that moments ago, they were sure Ghost was dead. So, without any hesitation, they returned the gesture and wrapped their arms around him, continuing to sob.

Their head and body still throbbed with dull pain, and the Guardian began to wonder if the explosion Ghost had mentioned before was the cause. They were still alive, which meant that it wasn’t bad enough to kill them, besides, they’d survived much worse than a small explosion, like falling from a ship sitting hundreds of feet up in the air for example.

They shuttered at the memory.

Ghost, as he always did, took notice of their discomfort almost immediately. “Here… stay still,” he said, gently pulling away from the embrace, much to the Guardian’s dismay, “My scans are telling me that you have a slight concussion… which is an easy fix. I wasn’t sure what happened to you after the explosion, but from the looks of things, you might have just been knocked out from the initial blast. Thankfully you don’t seem to have any internal bleeding or any other injuries, so that’s good,”.

“…comforting,” the Guardian said with a weary chuckle, sniffling away the tears that stained their cheeks before lifting their head again, “Can you… still heal me like this? Do you still have the Light?”.

Given what they found out about Exos down in the Crypt, how they were made and what rested at their core; the Guardian wasn’t sure what would happen if a being made purely of the Light was stuffed into a body born through the Darkness.

But thankfully, Ghost bobbed his head up and down in conformation. “Don’t worry, I’m still bonded to you, and to the Light. But… I think healing you is going to work a little differently now,” he said, extending out his hand to the Guardian as a small bloom of Light began emanating from his palm. They both stared at it for a moment before the Exo looked up at them, “May I?”.

They nodded timidly, watching as he placed a gentle hand on the side of their head, the cool touch of metal against their bare skin was soon replaced with a warm wave of energy that washed over them, the dull throb in the back of their head vanishing almost immediately.

The Guardian sighed softly in relief.

“There… better?”.

“Much,” they replied.

“Good, because we should probably get out of here soon. I’m getting an incoming transmission from Zavala wondering where we are… and I don’t think we should keep him waiting on this one,”.

They raised an eyebrow in suspicion, “… what did you do?”.

“I- I may have told Ana to send for help if we don’t show up after 24 hours…” Ghost said, chuckling nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, “And to uh, tell Zavala what we were doing down here, and what we were looking for,”.

That… was going to lead to an interesting conversation with the Titan when they eventually returned, the Guardian thought, as was trying to explain how and why their Ghost was now an Exo. “How long have we been down here…”.

He chuckled again, “Um… 29 hours as of two minutes ago?”.

“Oh…” they said, blinking, “Oh no,”.

“…yeah. I already hailed our ship down from orbit, it should be here soon,” Ghost said, watching as the Guardian stood up, “but… there is one little problem you should know about,”.

With momentary alarm, they looked down at the Exo who still sat unmoving on the floor, “What is it?”.

“… you might need to teach me how to walk,”.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Courtesy of @eosofspades on Tumblr:  
> I had a weird idea of a Ghost and Guardian messing around with some tech [that they definitely shouldn't be messing with] in the DSC, and Ghost gets their consciousness stuck in an Exo body


End file.
